Veteran secondary helping lead Bobcats' defense

by Kane O'Neill

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Montana State's secondary boasts some of the most experience in the Big Sky conference, with 7 upper classmen on the roster. "I'm real confident," said senior cornerback Deonte Flowers. "It's good to look to my left and look behind me and see the veterans back there and I think we're doing well so far." MSU's secondary currently has 5 seniors and 2 juniors for the upperclassmen, which means lots of real time game experience in this secondary. "It's always good to look out there and see some older guys, you know, to add on to the experience," said defensive backs coach Brandon North. "You know when things get tough out there, it's nice to look out there and see some guys that can keep a level head and if anything bad happens, they just move on to the next play." One concern on the defense this year is trying to replace the production and pass rush of Brad Daly and Preston Gale, who graduated in the fall. Without those two coming off the edge it allows the quarterback more time in the pocket to look for receivers, but the secondary says they don't feel any extra pressure. "You know I had a good conversation with Taylor Sheridan yesterday," Flowers said. "And he was saying how they gonna do their best to get to that quarterback. We do our best to cover the receivers, so I think we're gonna have a good defensive line this year." "I think maybe for the fans, they probably think it's a little bit more pressure but you know, our d-line, they've been playing great football," said senior safety Eryon Barnett. "Taylor Dees and Taylor Sheridan just been working their butts off and Garrett Marino, Odin Coe at defensive end, they've been running and getting to the quarterback. Making it really hard on him to be able to throw the ball and you know those guys have been throwing us some gifts this fall camp." Those gifts and hard work have been deserving of praise at camp and they've been getting it in high energy form from Brandon North. "My levels a little bit higher than maybe some guys but hopefully that energy will rub off on them," North said. "I'm just out here trying to have a good time, you know, let those guys see that 'hey we're out here working, but we're also having a good time." "You know, being able to come in there with veteran guys and you know still show out and ball out, I'm confident we have a great team this year," Barnett said. "And I just want guys too have fun."